The ‘No-Confidence’ Vote that Wasn’t
The Baltimore Sun and other area media gave a lot of coverage recently to a letter from the local FOP president to Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski, Jr. demanding the removal of Police Chief Melissa Hyatt.
From all appearances, the so-called ‘vote of no-confidence’ by “an estimated” 150 members should be directed against Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4 President Dave Folderauer. 150 votes compared to 3,100+ members is hardly a “dramatic divide,” as Mr. Folderauer would like us to believe. 150 votes represents approximately 5% of the total membership. (It represents about 8% of the total votes cast for president - 1,792 - last November.) Many of the 150 votes were from retired FOP members no longer even involved in day-to-day operations.
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What legitimate labor union would move forward with such an unprecedented action as a call for removal of the head of the department with so little concurrence?
FOP#4 leadership has pushed back against the new Baltimore County police chief from the beginning. What about new approaches? Nope. Shall we modernize some of our systems? Nope. What about more training and more mental health resources for our hard-working law enforcement officers? If it comes from Chief Hyatt, it must be a bad idea — in the eyes of FOP leadership.
Thankfully, Chief Hyatt has County Executive Olszewski’s support. In the new FY 23 Budget, BCPD will receive record funding to support the County’s police department including increases to their pay and other incentives to aid in retention and recruitment.
While Secretary of MD Department of General Services [Jan 1999 — Jan 2003], Ms. Richkus was in responsible charge of the DGS Police. During her tenure, she oversaw the recruitment and hiring of a new DGS Police Chief.
